original
When you buy a car from its original owner, you know it’s only been owned by one person. Original means “the very first.”
Original comes from the Latin word originem, which means “beginning or birth.” Whether you’re using it as an adjective to describe something that is literally the very first, or as a noun meaning something that serves as a model for making copies, original means “first.” Even when you describe an original idea, meaning “something fresh or unusual,” you’re talking about the first idea of its kind.
preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed
“the
original inhabitants of the Americas”“the book still has its
original binding”“restored the house to its
original condition”“the
original performance of the opera”“the
original cast”“retracted his
original statement”-
Synonyms:
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firstpreceding all others in time or space or degree
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first
being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of
“a truly
original approach”“with
original music”“an
original mind”-
Synonyms:
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unconventionalnot conforming to accepted rules or standards
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creative, originativehaving the ability or power to create
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firstpreceding all others in time or space or degree
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avant-garde, daringradically new or original
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freehand, freehandeddone by hand without mechanical aids or devices
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fresh, new, noveloriginal and of a kind not seen before
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germinal, originative, seminalcontaining seeds of later development
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groundbreaking, innovational, innovativebeing or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before
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new, newfangled(of a new kind or fashion) gratuitously new
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underivativenot derivative or imitative
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primaryof first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
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Antonyms:
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unoriginalnot original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual
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conventionalfollowing accepted customs and proprieties
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uncreativenot creative
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stalelacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
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banal, commonplace, hackneyed, old-hat, shopworn, stock, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-wornrepeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
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bromidic, corny, platitudinal, platitudinousdull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality
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cliched, ready-maderepeated regularly without thought or originality
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cold, dusty, moth-eaten, stalelacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new
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slavishblindly imitative
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secondarybeing of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
- show more antonyms…
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unconventional
not derived or copied or translated from something else
“the play is
original”“he kept the
original copy and gave her only a xerox”“the translation misses much of the subtlety of the
original French”-
Synonyms:
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underivednot derived; primary or simple
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underived
(of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary
“his work is based on only
original, not secondary, sources”-
Synonyms:
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primaryof first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
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primary
an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made
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synonyms:
master, master copy-
type of:
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creationan artifact that has been brought into existence by someone
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creation
something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies